Barclays to place ISS shares worth £300m

Barclays was last night in the market with 13.5 per cent of the stock in ISS, the cleaning and catering group that floated earlier this year in the largest Danish IPO for 20 years.

The bank acted on behalf of shareholders to buy the block in a deal worth around £300m and will be placing the shares with institutions today. The largest ISS shareholders include Swedish PE firm EQT, and Goldman Sachs Capital, which sold down some of its holding at IPO (and which now owns 32 per cent following a secondary share sale in September).

Kirkbi Invest (Lego owners) and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan remain large, long-term shareholders. The remaining equity is owned by UK and US institutions and Danish retail. Barclays are joined on the deal by Danske and Goldman Sachs.

Update: This article was modified to clarify Barclays' role in the deal